Oh, my aching back: More stress than calm in garden this week

Sometimes you have to wonder if your garden is serving you or if you are serving your garden. The rhetorical question reared its head this week as I played musical chairs with my balcony garden plants.

Let me explain: Work is being done to the facade of our building and the dreaded stage was finally slated for my elevation on Tuesday. So, by 3 a.m. that morning I had painstakingly brought in five railing planter boxes, cell packs of flowers that I haven’t yet made room for, and too many clay pots to count — suffice to say, six of them were the big ones that hold the tomato plants. (A planter of flowers and an heirloom tomato pot are pictured above, respectively.)

Later that day, I spoke with the crew boss and asked when it would be OK to move my plants back outside. (At this delicate juncture, following days that have been cold and wet, I hate to deprive my plants of even a few hours of direct sunshine. Not to mention I don’t particularly like stubbing my toes on terra cotta pots when I go for a cup of coffee.)

He told me that with inspections they wouldn’t get started on the actual work till Friday, so I could move the plants back outside in the interim. I did. Then it rained on Wednesday and Thursday, so I was betting that it would slow them down even further and that I’d have till Sunday night before I’d need to bring them in.

WRONG!

Early Friday morning, like clockwork (annoyingly accurate clockwork), there was a knock at the door requesting I move my plants off the balcony. I worked like crazy and cleared the decks (pun intended) — even down to the grill — all under the bemused and confused stare of my tabby.

Now practically every foot of available floor space in my living room is covered with plants and my back is aching from all that heavy lifting!

I spoke with the crew boss again (a very pleasant gentleman, by-the-way) and he said I could bring the plants back out at the end of the workday Saturday, but I’d have to take them back in before Monday morning because they’d be working above my balcony for a few more days next week.

So, I get to move everything again tomorrow afternoon so that my plants can enjoy about a day-and-a-half in the sun — then it’s back inside for a couple more days… It’s all been very stressful.

What I wouldn’t give for a tranquil, relaxing garden to calm my nerves (smile).

[Have you had any frustrating garden moments this season? Leave a comment with details.]

I have only just realised your garden is on your balcony. I would have loved to do that too when I was living in a flat, but never really thought too much about it. Roll on the work being finished so you can get everything back outside permanently.

Who And Why

I'm Avis, an editor and writer who's returned to her Florida roots after years spent in Chicago. ........................................................
I grew up in Florida with a wide, grass-carpeted backyard. Still, I didn't become acquainted with the concept of "garden" or the quiet rapture found therein until several years ago. Inspired in part by the planters I'd seen attached to the wrought iron railings of apartments on the bustling city streets of Paris and in part by Chicago's magnificent median divides, I decided to try a few flower boxes on the balcony of my Chicago condo. My complete lack of knowledge was offset by the blessing of a southern exposure and, in that first season, the gift of consistent rain in the days after my plants were set out. I pressed my luck and threw a few seeds in a pot and was soon rewarded with what I gleefully dubbed "basil trees." I was hooked!
So now I'm back in Florida and I'll be trying my hand at cultivating an urban garden under the sweltering Zone 9 sun, remaining ever mindful of just how much rapture gardens cultivate in me. I hope you'll be in league with me on this new gardening journey! .........................................................

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